Agriculture Minister warns diesel price surge threatens Romanian farmers

At a six-month performance review, interim Agriculture Minister Tánczos Barna warned that one outlet diesel price of 11 lei, together with higher electricity and gas costs, is putting severe pressure on Romanian farmers and may lead to significant losses in the livestock sector. He urged swift government intervention for pig and poultry farms, fearing they could lose competitiveness abroad without support. Barna described his limited-authority period as focused on completing overdue farmer payments and finalising IT components of the payment agency, with remaining 2025 sanctions calculations still pending.

He stressed that agricultural funds should stay under the ministry’s control, even if payment agencies merge. Looking ahead, he called for a more predictable drought-insurance scheme that would cover up to 90% of risk, criticizing one outlet ad-hoc compensation model. Barna also referenced EU-level efforts to ease vaccine rules for African swine fever and to adjust brown bear protection for certain states.